Heide Spruck Wrigley, Ph.D. Workforce Summit, Austin TX 2008 What works in workplace literacy?

Heide Spruck Wrigley, Ph.D.

Workforce Summit, Austin

TX 2008

What works in workplace literacy?

Numbers and Needs

The Perfect Storm (See ETS Report)

Using Immigration Data to Make your Case

http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/acscensus.cfm

What Works: Lessons Learned

Components Actions

Policy

Funding

LEP and Adult Ed

Job Training

Instruction

Start with demand positions; get employers on your side – link adult education to pre-employment and incumbent worker training

Be brave - show how little difference you are currently able to make and lobby for new models that will get people jobs that can sustain a family

Rethink the sequential system and offer a multi-track system that creates a community ESL and family literacy track that is separate from basic ESL for work and training

Work with adult ed to create models that combine basic skills education and occupational skills training – combine funds from ED and DOL

Teach in portable chunks and provide enough time on task for the most important “take aways” for students.

Workforce Literacy and ESL

Promising Practices

Work-based Learning in theAdult Literacy Classroom

What Works

Get to know the perspective of the workers (Toyota)

Include both social language – and (sub)-technical language

Focus discussion of behaviours on cross-cultural differences – allow students’ different perspectivs to emerge (Hmong)

Invite students to demonstrate to you and to themselves (what can you do now, that you couldn’t do before?)

Use Can-Do Lists

Find out what matters to supervisors (“What’s the one thing that drives you crazy?”

Ask employees (“if you can only learn one thing in this class that will help you at work, what will it be?”)

Start with what people are expert in (their own lives and their work) –

Invite students to tell their story – (Your First Job) in multiple ways (sketches; story boards; digital pictures; posters)

Involve supervisors and staff – ask workers to conduct simple surveys and interviews and present their findings

Teach Listening Comprehension

Present mini-lectures on interesting topics (cool news; technology; famous companies)

Present a scenario or critical incident

Use PowerPoints or pictures to illustrate

Focus on

Global listening (“what’s going on here?”)

Listening for details

Instructions and sequencing

Take advantage of YouTube video clips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYEkZL9KPM

Tales of Mere Existence Using YouTube for Listening Comprehension

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdYEkZL9KPM

Curriculum Resources

Curriculum Resources Work-related ESL

A few that I’ve been involved with:

LaGuardia Community College Curriculum

Hotel T.E.A.C.H

Texas Learns: Industry-specific ESL

May I Help You? (e-mail Heide for free electronic copy the scenarios might give you some idea)

Communicating in the Real World (Wiley and Wrigley, Prentice Hall)

Keep in Mind

Consider the demand of the workplace and get lots of examples and samples of the most critical needs in terms of

Functional literacy

Communication skills (social and technical)

Phone skills

Customer interactions

Peer interactions

Socio-cultural issues

Work-related vocabulary

Problem solving and decision making

Team work

Include Objects that Represent the Work(The Log)

Working with Tools and Artifacts

Students bring in tool that’s been in their family for a generation or more

Show others and discuss the relationship of the tool to their family history

Answer questions about the tool, such as

What is it?

Who used it?

What does it do?

What do you want your children to know about it?

Students create an in-class show case where they demonstrate the tool and ask each other questions

Teacher creates unit on tools that links traditional tools to new jobs and tools (e.g., lasers)

Scenarios for Work-based Problem Solving

Literacywork International

TEACHING WITH SCENARIOS

An Integrated Strategy-based Approach to Teaching Work-based ESL

Tips for Teaching

Lesson Flow

PreviewPreview

Interactive Teacher

Presentation

Interactive Teacher

Presentation

Think-Pair-Share

Comprehen-sion Check

Think-Pair-Share

Comprehen-sion Check

Story Map DiscussionStory Map Discussion

Shared Reading

Shared Reading

Create Dialogue and

Role Play

Create Dialogue and

Role Play

Language and

Vocabulary Practice

Language and

Vocabulary Practice

Culture NotesCulture Notes

RetellingRetelling

Discussing Options

Discussing Options

LESSON FLOWLITERACYWORK INTERNATIONAL

Telling the Story

From Listening Comprehension to Reading

Model Both Task and Language for Level 1 Learners

Speak Slowly, Demonstrate and Repeat

My First Job

Community Projects Focused on Work

Displaced workers from Socorro, TX decide to fix up a broken down school in

El Faro, Chihuahua, Mexico

Problem What We

Need to Do

Materials and Tools

Holes in the wall Fix the wall Wall board; paint; putty; saw; putty

knife; paint brush

Integrate Language Development

Link Vocabulary, critical thinking and project ideas

Community Improvement Projects

Connecting Drawings, Vocabulary and Projects

Tools for Change

Students use digital cameras to document process and study vocabulary

Take a Multi-Media Approach

Speak Slowly, Demonstrate and Repeat

Put the Technology in the Hands of the Learners

Have students take pictures of their work stations, put them on overheads and invite students to explain what they do; help students to create “personal dictionaries” for the words that are particular to their job

Invite students to create How To segments, using story board, digital pictures of video

Involve students in projects and have them present results to supervisors (What was our First Job?), using PowerPoint

Have students act out silly scenarios – video-tape them and put them on YouTube (get releases!)

Money, Money, Money